State of California
AIR RESOURCES BOARD
State Office Building
Auditorium
107 South Broadway
Los Angeles, CA
October 18, 1977
10:00 a.m.
AGENDA
Page
77-22-1 Approval of the Minutes of the November 24, 1976, Air
Resources Board Meeting.
77-22-2 Public Hearing Regarding Proposed Changes to Exhaust 1
Emission Standards and Test Procedures for 1979 and
Subsequent Model Heavy-Duty Vehicles.
77-22-3 Public Hearing to Consider Proposed Additions to the 18
Rules and Regulations of the South Coast Air Quality
Management District and Consideration of a
Proposed Model Rule for the San Diego County Air
Pollution Control District for Controlling Emissions
from Lightering Operations.
77-22-4 Other Business -
a. Executive Session - Personnel & Litigation
b. Research Proposals
ITEM NO.: 77-22-2
Public Hearing Regarding Proposed Changes to Exhaust Emission
Standards and Test Procedures for 1979 and Subsequent Model
Heavy-Duty Vehicles.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt Resolution 77-49.
SUMMARY
On Jule 11, 1977 the Environmental Protection Agency
conditionally granted California a waiver of Section 209(a) of
the Clean Air Act in order to allow California to implement more
stringent exhaust emission standards for 1979 and later model
heavy-duty vehicles. The condition under which this waiver is
granted was that California had to amend its test procedures to
allow manufacturers the option of certifying 1979 heavy-duty
vehicles under either the 1978 or 1979 test procedures. There
are significant instrumentation differences between the two
procedures, and EPA did not believe there was adequate lead time
for all manufacturers to have the new 1979 instrumentation in
place in time for 1979 certification.
On September 8, 1977 EPA promulgated its own standards and test
procedures for 1979 and later heavy-duty vehicles. EPA's
procedures allowed manufacturers the same option regarding
instrumentation that EPA had required of California procedures.
Further, the EPA test procedures contained technical differences
from the ARB procedures, since ARB's procedures had been based on
an early draft of the federal regulations.
The staff proposes that the Board revise its heavy-duty test
procedures to conform to EPA's waiver conditions and to its test
procedures. These changes would also require that the 1979
hydrocarbon standard be amended from its current 1.5 gram per
brake horsepower hour (gm/bhp-hr) level according to the new,
1979 instrumentation, to an option of 1.5 g/bhp-hr with the new
instrumentation or 1.0 gm/bhp-hr with the old instrumentation.
This change is consistent with the changes made by the Board when
the new instrumentation was adopted last October.
ITEM NO.: 77-22-3
Public Hearing to Consider Proposed Additions to the Rules and
Regulations of the South Coast Air Quality Management District
and Consideration of a Proposed Model Rule for the San Diego
County Air Pollution Control District for Controlling Emissions
from Lightering Operations.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt Resolution 77-45 thereby adding Rule 477 "Emissions from
Lightering of Organic Liquids" to Regulation IV of the Rules and
Regulations of the South Coast Air Quality Management District
ash shown in Exhibit A and approve "Proposed Model Rule for
Controlling Emissions from Lightering Operations" for adoption by
the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District as shown in
Exhibit B.
SUMMARY
The transfer or "Lightering" of crude oil from large marine
vessels into smaller ones is currently done off the coast of
southern California in order to allow the long distance transport
of oil through the use of large supertankers which require
greater port area water depths than are available at Los Angeles
or Long Beach. Most lightering in southern California waters is
now done in the lee of San Clemente Island where clam, deep
waters provide an ideal environment for such operations.
Lightering operations were infrequent in southern California
waters prior to 1974 when less oil was imported and smaller
tankers were used for oil transport. The amount of crude oil
lightered off the coast of southern California is already
approximately 11 million barrels on a monthly basis. Chevron
conducts 73 percent of all lightering in the lee of San Clemente
Island. Shell and Coastal States Corporation are responsible for
the remainder. Lightering also occurs in the Los Angeles/Long
Beach harbor.
Current lightering operations are estimated to result in
emissions of 11 tons per day of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and 8 tons
per day of organic gases. The source of SO2 emissions is the
combustion of fuel in the boilers or engines of the ships engaged
in the lightering. The principal source of organic gas emissions
is the displacement of vapors from the cargo compartments of the
lighters when they are filled with crude oil from the larger
tankers which are also called "parent" vessels. Significant
amounts of organic vapors are also displaced when either the
lighter or the parent vessel takes ballast water into cargo
compartments. Some of the vessels currently engaged in lighter
operations may not have sufficient segregated ballast capacity to
avoid routine ballasting into cargo tanks.
A meteorological study conducted by the staff indicates that
nearly all of the emissions from southern California lightering
operations adversely impact air quality in the South Coast Air
Quality Management District and in the San Diego County Air
Pollution Control District during the summer smog season.
Organic gas emissions from lightering are currently estimated to
be as much as 13 percent of all organic gas emissions for the
entire County of San Diego on days of maximum lightering
activity.
To control emissions from lightering, the staff is proposing
rules which would control both SO2 and organic gas emissions.
One section of the rules would limit the SO2 emissions from
lighters to those which would be achieved by the combustion of
fuel with a sulfur content of 0.5 percent by weight. To control
organic gases, the rule proposed for the South Coast Air Quality
Management District would require that the vapor displaced during
the loading of cargo compartments be reduced by at least 80
percent from January 1, 1978 to July 1, 1978, by at least 90
percent commencing July 1, 1978, and by at least 95 percent
commencing July 1, 1980. The model rule proposed for the San
Diego County Air Pollution Control District would require that
the organic vapor displaced during the loading of organic liquid
into lighters be reduced by at least 80 percent from February 1,
1978 to July 1, 1978, with the remaining reductions and dates the
same as is being proposed for the South Coast Air Quality
Management District. The vapor control requirements can be met
by a variety of techniques including operational restrictions, or
the use of vapor recovery systems which duct displaced vapors to
the ship boilers or to vapor incineration or condensation
devices. The rules would also prohibit operations such as gas-freeing,
ballasting into cargo tanks, purging, and tank washing
in coastal waters which are upwind of the southern California
shoreline if these activities would result in the emission of
organic vapors. Implementation of the rules would reduce sulfur
dioxide emissions from affected lighters by approximately 75
percent and organic gas emissions from loading by 80 to 95
percent.